Inside the conference room of the Great Temple, where the Holy Land’s leading figures were currently at, the sound of tense conversation could be heard.

“...No one expected this situation to happen.”

It was quite the strange sight—people, ranging from middle-aged to elderly, possessing the kind of authority that they could take pride in, were gathered in one place, looking distressed.

But, considering the situation, it wasn’t that strange.

Especially after hearing the words of one of the Archbishop.

“I can’t believe the Holy Sword rejected the candidate with the best scores. What’s the meaning of holding this event then…?”

“Nothing happened even after she grabbed the Holy Sword. Maybe they just need a little more time?”

“No, it can’t be the case. We know that anyone who can’t prove that they’re qualified will die immediately upon contact. The problem here is that there was no ‘bright light’ that always came out when the previous Heroes came into contact with the Holy Sword. This means it didn’t recognize her as its master.”

Exactly. That was the root of all the problems.

The person who showed the best performance in the ordeal wasn’t chosen as the master of the Holy Sword.

Considering this happened in an event hosted by the Three Superpowers’ leaders, this couldn’t be just a simple accident.

"How about giving the opportunity to other candidates?"

“...That would give birth to another problem entirely. People will make a fuss over who should be given the opportunity and they will definitely start various dirty fights over that.”

“Is it really the time to consider such things? If things go wrong, chaos will be spread all across the continent!”

It would be the worst case scenario if people came to think that ‘this generation didn’t give birth to any Hero’.

In the first place, the event was intended to calm the chaos that would ensue as a result of the Devils’ signs being discovered across the continent. If the worst case scenario were to actually happen, even the people present didn’t dare to imagine what kind of chaos would ensue.

However, since the Holy Land was the one who first suggested carrying out the Hero Selection Ordeal, they had to proceed with it, even if they had to do it forcefully.

“The Holy Sword—”

As soon as the voice echoed throughout the room, the room descended to silence.

These people were the leading figures, they had every right to use their voice in this place, but the person who just spoke had the highest authority in the room.

“If we look at the past records, it was said that ‘it harms everyone upon contact except the Hero’. Judging by the fact that she survived after touching it, we can safely say that candidate Iliya Krisanax IS the Hero of this generation. Besides, giving the opportunity to other candidates will only end up killing them.”

“...”

He was the only person who played the role as the ‘counterweight’ of the countries, even in the situation where the Holy Land was objectively less powerful than the Empire, while being many steps behind the Tribal Alliance in regards to technological advancement.

The Absolute and also the dictator of the Holy Land.

He was the strongest priest in history, the Pope himself.

“...”

“...”

Befitting his authority, everyone in the room stayed silent.

As if everything he said was the sole truth that had to be accepted.

This sight perfectly demonstrated his level of authority inside the Holy Land.

His grip on the country was overwhelming compared to the Empire’s higher-ups, where there were factions with each of them holding the same amount of authority.

“However, it’s also a fact that there was no ‘bright light’, which is proof of the ownership of the Holy Sword… There are only two possible reasons for this.”

The Pope continued with a gentle smile.

“One, the Hero herself has a ‘flaw’. This is the most likely reason, if we were to use common sense. Although it’s hard to deduce what exactly the flaw is since it’s the first time in history that this has ever happened…”

This was something that definitely came to everyone’s mind the first time. It was simply difficult to believe that the problem lay in the Holy Relic itself, since nearly a thousand years had passed and the relic hadn’t caused any incident ever since.

However, the people in this room were not so stupid to miss the fact that the Pope explicitly mentioned that there were ‘two’ problems.

Which meant that he implied there was another possibility other than the common probable cause.

“And the second one—”

The Pope curled up the corners of his mouth.

“-is that her qualification has been stolen in a ‘butterfly effect’ someone has created.”

“...Pardon me? Butterfly effect…?”

“What does that…?

At the questions coming out from them in a daze...

The Pope continued his words with a meaningful smile.

“...It means that there must be someone who stole the ‘hardship' that was originally given to the Hero.”

To the point that the Holy Sword, which only recognized one person as its master, had a ‘malfunction’.

As everyone else looked puzzled, the Pope silently closed his eyes while resting his chin on his hand.

_…Is it happening soon? _

The start of the ‘Red Night’ that the Prophet had told him about, was just around the corner.

And in that situation…

Toward the person who had set up plans to deal with such a situation, a huge variable had come to twist all of the said plans.

_Now what are you going to do, Dowd Campbel? _

One thing was for sure.

Just was the Prophet had said, the situation would definitely be a ‘fun spectacle’.

●

“...Haaaaah…”

[...The ground won’t collapse even if you were to blow on it like that, you know?]

Caliban scolded me, but I couldn't help it.

I was so out of it that I spent tens of minutes pacing around outside without any sense of purpose whatsoever.

Even though I had no time to waste—hell, I didn’t even have enough time to come up with a solution.

“This is really bad…”

Faenol would go berserk tomorrow. Since Iliya failed to get the Holy Sword, there was no way I could deal with her now.

“...”

And that wasn’t even the end of this.

Iliya Krisanax = Main Character = Hero—this was the key element that ran through the game.

Even if we somehow managed to pass through this chapter, the upcoming events would get all twisted.

“...”

And the worst thing was I didn’t even know the reason why this happened.

[...Really?]

“...What?”

Caliban asked with a meaningful tone while I replied with a sigh. I could imagine him tilting his head as he continued.

[Like, are you sure you don’t know?]

“...”

[You’re acting a little too calmly for someone who apparently has been checkmated, no?]

“...I don't know.”

Those words left my mouth as I opened the door to my room.

Anyway, whatever happened, I couldn’t just give up and let myself die.

The previous chapters also didn’t progress the way I wanted it to. This time was the same. It wouldn’t change the fact that I’d need to survive by any means necessary, including using up all of my remaining cards.

As I thought so while entering my room…

My whole body froze.

“...”

“...”

Because there was a punk sitting on my bed while swaying her legs.

She clumped up the blanket, using it to support her back, even hugging my pillow—she looked like a girlfriend who came to her boyfriend’s house and welcomed him with a 'you’re home'.

Obviously…

More than anyone, I knew that this woman wasn’t the type of person who’d have such a soft sentiment.

“You.”

A while later, I called out to her.

It took me quite some time to form a sentence because I was so dumbstruck by her presence here.

“What are you doing here?”

“Hm?”

In contrast to my low tone, she answered me with a cheerful tone.

“To say hello to you?”

This woman who always wore a mask…

The Prophet.

She was sitting on my bed while giggling.

●

“How did you come—”

“-here, how come nobody knows, what do you want that makes you go all the way here—forget about such boring questions. We’re the only ones here, no?”

“...”

“You’re ignoring me now? What a killjoy. Are you really that anxious just because Iliya Krisanax failed to be the hero?”

I closed my eyes before letting out a silent sigh.

“...Was it you who did that?”

“Dowd Campbell.”

Suddenly.

Her expression changed.

Well, I couldn’t exactly look at her expression since she was wearing a mask, but I could feel the ‘malice’ that I had felt from her the last time we met.

“You know that it's not something I did. In fact, I don't even care about such a maggot.”

Her wicked voice entered my ears.

“Still playing dumb even though you know about all this already, huh? Kind of pathetic, don’t you think? Is this appropriate for someone of your stature to do?”

“...”

“Everything happened because of you.”

“...”

The malice.

Permeated the air damply.

“Your existence itself is a variable that ‘originally’ shouldn’t have existed in this world. The very thing that caused everything to be twisted is the butterfly effect you’ve created. You know this already, don’t you?”

“...”

“It’s all because ‘you’...have taken all the ordeals that Iliya Krisanax should’ve gone through. She is undoubtedly the ‘Hero’ by ‘nature’, but her spirit’s ‘status’ was far from enough to hold the Holy Sword. She ended up becoming someone inadequate to carry out the fate she was given.

“...”

“Ah, don’t get me wrong, I have no intention to condemn you. You only did your best to survive, after all. Don’t feel so guilty about it.”

Her words accurately turned my head upside down.

Those words were all the things I had deduced about the current situation…

Things that were always in my mind…

In any case, this made it certain that this fucker knew a lot about me.

Way too much, actually.

“...”

I didn’t refute her words and just stared at her silently.

Because if she really was who I thought she was…

Then she’d really known ‘everything’ about me.

It would’ve been easy for her to know about what I was thinking now.

“So, do you think there’s a way to overthrow this situation? The Red Devil is going to awaken soon, no?”

“...”

“It’s really a checkmate this time, huh? You’ve been running around while going all in to give Iliya Krisanax the Holy Sword, no?”

Honestly…

I couldn't think of anything right now.

Though the other Devil’s Vessels were nearby, in order to suppress the Vessel bearing three Fragments from going berserk, it would be inevitable for them to also go berserk as wel as a deterrence. It was like the tail wagging the dog, but in a level of detonating a bomb to extinguish fire.

“...So, did you come all the way here just to mock me?”

“Nope.”

The punk grinned.

“I came to offer you a deal.”

“...A deal? With you?”

This fucker had been putting my life at risk countless times before, what the fuck was she on about?

With that thought in mind, I glared at her. Meanwhile, she rolled around in my bed while continuing.

“Aw, c’mon, why are you so mean to me? I’ve been treating you kindly and sincerely so far!”

“...”

“Didn’t I send Talker to you during the ordeal? Just to protect you?”

“...”

“Also, who do you think was the one who delayed the Red Devil’s going berserk by a day?”

“...”

I shut my mouth and slowly stared at her.

Meanwhile, she stretched herself on my bed and continued.

“I promise, it won’t be something bad for you.”

“...Spit it out then. Not that I’m going to listen.”

Upon hearing what I said, she let out a light smile.

Well, that was what I felt when I saw that mask of hers, at least.

“Then.”

She continued in a peaceful voice.

“Wanna fuck?”

“...”

After a long silence.

After a very long silence.

I was barely able to say something.

“...What?”

“Was that not clear enough? You know, reproduction? Making a baby—”

“Wait. Shut the fuck up for a sec.”

Holding my throbbing head, I let out a deep breath.

I felt dizzy for a moment due to hyperventilation, so I couldn't help but do so.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Huh, you really are weak at things like this. For a casanova who’s been going around seducing women, why are you so weak when facing dirty talk like this?”

“...”

“Don't make such a scary expression. I'm just joking. It was a joke.”

“...”

Yeah, sure it fucking was.

From the way it looked, if I were to accept her offer, she’d eat me right there and then.

As I thought so, the Prophet continued again.

“Well, Mr. Dowd.”

Her voice was light, just like when she made a crazy remark earlier.

But the words that she uttered next weren't light at all.

“Why don’t we kill the Gray Devil together?”

She dropped those words…

Ever so lightly, as if she was making small talk.

 

 

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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars and likes of the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!